Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Perhaps some of our loyal Luscious Verde blog readers have noticed the absence of our "Hot Card Of The Day" installment for the past couple of days. Some of you may also have noticed that Rob's voice hasn't been greeting you when you call. The reason behind these unusual occurrences is one in the same. Rob is gone. Before you burst into tears, please note that this is only a one week hiatus (he mentioned something about Combos and reruns of America's Next Top Model). I suppose this means the responsibility of our beloved "HCOTD" and blog maintenance now rests upon my shoulders. I realize that I'm not as funny/witty as Rob, so please be nice and take it easy on the blog comments (at least until next week!).

That said, here is today's Hot Card of the Day . . .

This card design was adapted from one of the spreads in our wedding album by Noteworthy Designs in Marietta, Georgia. It is a #10 sized, 3-layer card to be used for a Bat Mitzvah invitation. The colors and design are very pretty and feminine and very well suited for this special event. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can view the detail of the motif and the textures of the paper choices. Enjoy!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Today's hot card is actually a hot color mock-up. What's a color mock-up, you ask? Well, if you're having a hard time visualizing a card (something that happens to all of us at some point in our lives), we can make a full-size example of the card. It's a pretty cool way to make sure you're getting exactly what you or your customer wants.

So, in the little snack box in our kitchen that's replenished every few weeks by a mysterious man, we found these chips. We understand most snack foods; that's what most of us subsist on. But ketchup chips? Huh? Who asked for these? For what it's worth, we're too scared to try them. Are they any good? Please let us know in the "Comments" section.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Today's hot card comes to us from usual suspect Noteworthy Notes in Chicago. This boy's birth announcement is actually from our Bar/Bat Mitzvah catalog. It's been modified to a 5.5 square card from the original size of 8.5 square. Just another example that pretty much all of our designs can be used for pretty much any kind of occasion. We are also legally obligated to add that this card was hand-picked by Luscious Verde co-owner Wendy, who adds that the card is "super creative and super cute."

We like to think that we here at Luscious Verde are different than the staffers of other custom stationery companies, but the fact is that we put our pants on one leg at a time, just like anyone else. That is, we have wants and needs that cannot be satiated by custom die-cuts alone, no matter how cool they are. And, let’s face it, any company that employs a considerable amount of 20- and 30-somethings has a lot of singles.

That said, an off-the-cuff conversation in the proofing department about the pros and cons of online dating turned into a full-blown symposium during lunch, and it was held at the prestigious stone picnic table outside our offices. (You can see a flyer created by proofreader Ted above.) Experiences were shared, snacks were consumed, and we all learned a lot about each other for about 15 minutes, before we forgot about online dating and started gossiping about the co-workers that weren’t there.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Today's edition of HCOTD demonstrates a very creative application of our super fun Wobble Dots liner pattern. This particular card is probably one of our top three most popular designs from the Bar/Bat Mitzvah book, but we've never seen it like this! Congratulations to Lion in the Sun in Brooklyn, New York for putting together this fantastic invitation. Although it's not shown in this picture, the insert cards were done in coordinating and alternating paper colors and then sized to stack in the interior pocket of the card. Very cute and very hot!

It was only a week ago that we found out Don Herbert, a.k.a. "Mr. Wizard" to those of us raised in the late '70s and '80s, passed away at the age of 89. He didn't have too much to do with custom stationery, but he taught a lot of us about the wonders of the world. Thanks, Mr. Wizard.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Today's hot card is from Yellow Bird in Wilmette, Illinois. It's from the new wedding update and features even more of our bitchin' custom cuts and metallic papers.

In the wedding update, the cutout "S" is here replaced by a "B." The "S," incidentally, stands for my last name, and the woman I'm marrying (in the catalog spread at least) is Lindsay, yesterday's blogger.

Lindsay was going to write today's entry, but we arm-wrestled for blog supremacy. She won, but everyone felt sorry for me while I was crying, so I'll be steering the good ship Luscious Verde Blog at least for the time being.

Monday, June 18, 2007

As you may have gathered from the title of this blog entry, Rob has the day off. So I'm standing in for him to provide you with another edition of our HCOTD series. That means I get to write whatever I want and Rob can't stop me (until he gets back on Tuesday). Anyway, today's Hot Card is from Papers Plus in Pikesville, Maryland. This particular design is actually a pretty popular one from our Bar/Bat Mitzvah book, but what makes this card exceptionally hot is the color scheme. For the past couple of months we've had more requests for combinations of Orchid, Beet, and/or Grass paper than ever before (see last Friday's Hot Card for another great example). I absolutely love, LOVE these colors (plus I helped make this card) and have thus dubbed it "HCOTD". Enjoy!

Friday, June 15, 2007

This weekend's hot card comes from Invitations and More by Bonnie in Rye Brook, New York. It's a Bat Mitzvah invitation with customer-supplied art. Because every single one of our orders are 100 percent custom, we can even use customer-supplied artwork, as we did in this one. It's a wonderful color scheme for what we're sure will be a great fall Mitzvah.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

This stunning card comes from Ann Fiedler Creations in Beverly Hills, California. It's for a wedding in Israel, and if anyone tells you we don't know our Hebrew, they ain't seen this card.

We might have tomorrow's hot card up a little later than usual, but that's because the Cavs game starts at nine tonight. Nine! We won't get home until...well, you don't want to know what time we'll get home tonight.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Today's hot card, fresh from a four-day weekend, is a Bat Mitzvah order from our good pals at Blacker & Kooby. It was modified from our new wedding update, and, as graphic designer Anthony says, it's real "handsome."

On another note, despite a three-game losing streak, we still say: Go Cavs.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

While we all here at Luscious Verde take an awful lot from the world, we always try to give something back to the community (not, say, to the honor-system snack box in the kitchen). And to do so, we happily donate unused, leftover, and discontinued papers to school districts and preschool programs.

Shown above are a few pictures from Tina Williams’ classes at Berea Community Elementary in Berea, Kentucky, home of our own assistant operations manager Lindsay. The paper was used for a project meant to represent African kente cloth. The “rich and colorful papers gave the students lots of choices in their design,” says Mrs. Williams. Hey, we say the same thing to our customers!

(P.S. This is not actually a nefarious plan to train a young army of production artists.)

Monday, June 11, 2007

In honor of the children of Luscious Verde's first official week of summer (the week before camp), we've chosen a Hot Candy of the Day instead of a Hot Card of the Day, so the thousands of sweatshop workers hard at work bogarting our style will have to find something else to imitate, at least until we get our stuff together tomorrow.

Also, Lindsay, our usual photo-taker, didn't bring her camera to work today, so please blame Rob for the atrocious cell-phone image. Thanks to Kelly for being our model (chosen despite her propensity for killing both fish and frogs).

Friday, June 8, 2007

Today's hot card, shown as it appears in nature, is from In Paper in Boca Raton, Florida. This is a pretty popular design, but instead of changing around the paper colors, the sizing was changed. Just another way to subtly personalize a design for your specific event. You can have it your way, like Burger King. (Note to self: Don't write the hot card description when you're hungry.)

While it doesn’t require heavy lifting or excavating precious artifacts from within booby-trapped Mayan temples, answering the phones at a small business can still sometimes be a slightly taxing experience. But what turns an interesting and enjoyable job into one that’s not are those few times a day when we get straight-up bizarre prank calls or wrong numbers.

Sometimes it’s a person asking for the Case Western statistics department, and sometimes it’s an inebriated teenager saying “I love you” at 10-second intervals for two minutes straight. For you other small-business owners and workers, here are some tips I’ve heard about dealing with misguided phone trolls. Have any other tips or tricks? Leave ‘em in the comments.

-- If they ask what your company does, say that you perform embalming and taxidermy services for house pets.

-- Always have a Megadeth CD on pause at loud volume for quick and painful retaliation

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Our hot card today comes to us all the way from Stacey Himmel Stationery in sunny San Diego, California. It's a wedding invitation, modified from a design from our Bar/Bat Mitzvah book. Quite a fine invitation, if you ask us.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Today's hot card features a custom die-cut design by our own lovely Mandy. It's just another example of the many things we've been commissioned to design that are 100 percent custom. You want a giraffe? We'll get you a giraffe. Try us.

Also, we'd like to give a big Luscious Verde shout-out to Lee at A.K.A. Invites in Potomac, Maryland. She's currently visiting a friend in Cleveland, and stopped by this afternoon. It was very cool meeting her and nice putting a face to the name. Don't party too hard in Cleveland, Lee.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

This is a design from our newest wedding update, modified for a Bar Mitzvah. It utilizes our new ply technology with metallic and dark papers, and the envelope liner is a customized version of our pattern "Wobble Dots."

The invitation comes to us from our friends at House and Paper in Miami, Florida, a state which is the home to many happy Luscious Verde childhood memories, except that one time when we were three and cried because Mickey Mouse was scary-looking.

For our summer promotion, we’re not doing anything silly like sending out teddy bears to retailers or driving to each store personally in our Luscious Verde Party Wagon to hand out extra coffee mugs. This month, it’s Win a Date with Jesse.

Jesse’s our handyman, our jack of all trades, and the women of Luscious Verde have nothing but, uh, words to say about him.

“When I used to carpool with Jesse, he stopped at Giant Eagle once to buy groceries to make dinner for his girlfriend. He’s a catch.” – Alicia, proofreader

“He’s everything you would want in a man. You’d be silly not to enter this contest.” – Rue McClanahan, “The Golden Girls”

So, he’s got a questionable sense of humor, he cooks, and he knows how to put together a mean card. What else do you want? Leave at least one paragraph in the comment section below about why we should choose you. The “winner” will be chosen when we feel like it, probably by the end of July, or if we get bored sooner. Thanks!

Monday, June 4, 2007

This handsome card comes to us all the way from Noteworthy Notes in Chicago, Illinois, hometown of our operations manager, Liz. It's a modified design from our correspondence book, and we have to say that we think it looks pretty good. (I guess that's obvious, because we wouldn't pick it for Hot Card of the Day if it wasn't.)

Ask anyone at Luscious Verde about production artist Laura, and a lot of adjectives come to mind: uplifting, enthusiastic, helpful, and…brawny. Yes, brawny. Her stature belies her tightly-wound ability to take almost anyone here down to the Pain Store when it comes to arm-wrestling matches.

This toughness was born in Cleveland and raised in Auburn, Ohio, a small town about 45 minutes southeast of Cleveland. The youngest of two boys and three girls, she attended KenstonHigh School in ChagrinFalls, and played a mean clarinet (and mellophone) for the Kenston High Bombers. She attended the University of Dayton “just to get out of Auburn” for a little bit.

Majoring in art education (she “had a lot of fun” in college but says she “was a good girl”), she got a job as a K-12 substitute teacher in her hometown, and did that for a few years. However, she lost her passion for teaching and went looking for a job that utilized her craftiness.

She started at Luscious Verde a year ago and has charmed and helped everyone she works with. “I help a lot of departments out by gathering supplies and doing pretty much whatever they want me to do,” she says.

In her free time, she likes singing, going to plays, and hanging out with her fella, Jordan. Her advice for any aspiring Lauras out there: “There’s a purpose out there for you and you need to find it.” It’s just that positive attitude that makes her a joy to work with. But we try not to make her mad. She might destroy us with her arms of steel.